Volunteering to enter the self-learning program, Chen is among the students who choose to set up their own learning patterns and schedules with teachers in one-to-one sessions, much akin to tutorials on graduate programs. With three simple regulations (no fighting, no drugs and no infringement of other people's privacy and property), the school keeps an open mind towards curriculum planning and welcomes students to discuss with the faculty different learning preferences that may fit their individual needs.
For the faculty at Kai-Ping, the working environment also requires initiative and high spirits to face challenges. As each member of the faculty is considered an active participant in educational reform, students' daily homework is to keep a field study report - a log of what they have seen, heard and experienced during the day, the material used and possible future modifications.
Every Wednesday morning, Chen said, all students have the chance to sit down with the faculty members as equals and make their feelings and opinions known and comment on just about anything. Such is the liberalism exercised at the school where entry exams were replaced with interviews.
Preliminary meetings are held to ensure that both parents and students understand the school's nonconformist approach to education. The parents of incoming freshmen are required to attend summer workshops to experience the way their children will learn to prevent complaints that the students have no textbooks and learn in an unconventional way.
"It's our job to let parents know that each child learns at their own pace. In the traditional educational system, the immediate result of learning is grades. It gives a sense of security but isn't a fair representation of students' capabilities. What we try to communicate to parents is that all children are different. We need to offer assistance when it's called for and grow along with them," Wang said.
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